The Land of Milk: Israel’s Super Cows Are the World’s Most Productive (VIDEO)

Israeli technology has made the country’s “Super Cows” world famous, as they produce much more milk than other countries’ cows, up to 10.5 tons a year, 10% more than in the U.S. and almost 50% more than in Germany, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

“The Bible, no less, describes Israel as a land flowing with milk and honey. In that respect, it’s been proven at least half-right: Israel has by far the most productive dairy cows in the world,” writes Bloomberg.

Air conditioning for the cows, constant measuring of the quantity and quality of their milk, and even pedometers to judge if the animal is getting fidgety have led Israel to export its science and technique to 50 countries where farming is still more traditional.

Alon Ushpiz, Israel’s Ambassador to India, said in September that Israel was looking for ways to collaborate with the Indian dairy sector to help boost its milk production. Although India is the world’s largest milk producer, the per capita milk output is the lowest in the world.

Yuval Rachmilevitz, CEO of Israel’s AFIMILK, said, “We believe that technology belongs to the WhatsApps of the world and the Googles of the world. We don’t think of technology in a dairy farm.”

Rachmilevitz said it was a question of adoption. “It’s a conservative marketplace, people tend to think it’s a mechanical thing. You grow cows, you milk them, everyone is happy. However, you discover over the years that technology has a very significant impact on this business, and when it becomes tougher to make money, the adoption rate goes higher.”

Another dairy entrepreneur, Ori Inbar, from SCR Dairy, sells “cow tags” that monitor data about the cows. His sales have risen 30-fold since 2001.

Many of the Israeli dairy technology firms find that camel farms have also become big customers.